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12 Questions with Nelson Piquet Jr.

Our series of weekly NASCAR driver interviews continues with Nelson Piquet Jr., the ex-Formula One racer who now drives in the Nationwide Series. The rookie from Brazil scored his first top-10 of the season

Our series of weekly NASCAR driver interviews continues with Nelson Piquet Jr., the ex-Formula One racer who now drives in the Nationwide Series. The rookie from Brazil scored his first top-10 of the season last weekend at Michigan and heads to Road America on Saturday as one of the favorites.

Q: From what you can tell so far, whose driving style is most similar to your own?

A: Tough question. I don't know, honestly. Every car is different, every team sets up the car different. So I wouldn't know. It would have to be someone from the outside looking at it -- not me. I cannot even see myself, how I am. So I wouldn't be able to say that.

Q: How much of your own memorabilia do you collect? Do you save helmets, firesuits, diecast cars, things like that?

A: Everything. I save as much as I can, and I collect even from my friends.

What do you do with all of it?

Well, I lived in a house and I moved to an apartment now, so I have a lot of stuff in storage. But I have some stuff in Brazil, some stuff in Europe. One day I want to have a good display of everything I have -- F1 helmets from my friends in F1, all my trophies.

I love collecting diecasts as well. I have maybe 500 diecasts. So I'm a big memorabilia fan.

Q: What percent of success in NASCAR do you think has to do with the car, what percent is the driver and what percent is luck?

A: I'd say it's split between the driver and the car -- maybe 40-40 or 50% car, 40% driver. And then there's 10% luck, because I think a driver makes his own luck a lot of times.

Q: What person outside of your family has done the most for your racing career?

A: I still have kind of a godfather in Europe who helps me a lot. Not financially, but just morally and is just a good friend and a person I can trust. I think he's the guy I can speak about anything with and is always very good to me.

And then probably the managers I have right now -- Fuel (Sports Management Group) -- they're by far the best management company I've worked with, compared to everyone else.

Q: There are a lot of people who want a piece of your time on a given race weekend: your team, media, sponsors, fans. With all those demands, how do you decide which way to divide it up?

A: I leave it up to Donald (Edwards, public relations representative) to take care of it. (Chuckles) There are only so many hours and Donald will decide what's my schedule. He knows when I have to have peace, when I have to be getting ready for a race or qualifying.

Q: I often hear fans say something to drivers like, "Hey, remember me from that autograph session three years ago?" So it's clear fans want to be remembered. What's something a fan could do to be remembered by you?

A: I think show real passion. Not only, "Hey, sign my T-shirt," but I have some fans who know a lot of facts and stats, and you really know that they're following it. In a brief 10 seconds, they can tell you something that's going to make you notice, "OK, this guy is a real fan."

It's not just a guy asking for your autograph or your card just because you're passing by. If those guys ask you two years later, "Do you remember me?" No. But if I remember, it's usually the guy who says something about a comment I posted on Twitter a couple of weeks back or something. Like, "Hey, I liked what you did with your cat. I have one, too." Or something like that. Something will show they know who you are, they follow you and are real fans.

Q: The last person you wrecked -- did you do it on purpose?

A: No. (Smiles)

Q: Is there anyone in racing who you used to feud with and now you get along with them or are even friends?

A: It's difficult to say, because I've never raced with the same people or group of drivers for a long time, you know? I raced in Europe for awhile and then I raced over here. But no, usually I'm a very good judge of character at first. Not necessarily (character) at the track, but as a person and a human being.

I'm a guy who doesn't have a lot of friends, but the real friends I have are really close to me. So if there is anybody -- from a driver to a journalist or a sponsor, whatever -- that I feel just doesn't rub me well, I'm not going to force myself to get involved, you know? They're just in a separate category. Then I have my friends over here (in another category), and they're always my friends.

Q: What's the best racing-related movie?

A: I haven't seen the new F1 movie yet (Ron Howard's Rush), but I would think that will be pretty good. I hear people say it's good.

I mean, I love Days of Thunder. I know it's a lot of B.S., but it's a good movie. I always have a blast watching it. And I like Le Mans with Steve McQueen. That's a good movie.

Unfortunately, racing is a sport that's difficult to replicate when producers come from different backgrounds. It's different from a football or basketball game, where everyone can play those. Racing cars, nobody does it. It's hard to translate that (to the screen). I know they try hard and try to simulate it as much as they can.

Q: What's your song of the moment right now?

A: Honestly, I don't know. I usually turn on my Spotify, which is kind of Internet radio, and I just let it roll. I've gone from the days of the playlist that you have to download to now streaming everything online.

Q: Define yourself without NASCAR. Who are you away from the track?

A: I love staying home. You know, with the schedule we have, I don't end up spending a lot of time at home. So I'll rest or go to the workshop. On Wednesdays, we'll go go-karting at Mooresville Motorplex.

I like going out and having fun with my friends, too, but usually every weekend we're out traveling -- so I don't have time to do it.

I don't know. I'm outgoing, fun guy. I'll have a drink once in awhile with my boys over here or my friends. I live in Birkdale (Village, a retail/residential community north of Charlotte), so there's always something going on there.

Q: I've been asking each driver to give me a question for the next interview. Last week was Dale Earnhardt Jr., and he wanted to know: What's been the hardest thing to get used to during your transition to stock cars? What jumped out at you that you didn't expect when you got involved?

A: I think the hardcore racing -- the closeness of all the cars and the restarts and all of that has been the funnest to get used to. It's racing, it's adrenaline and that's fun.

The most difficult is learning how to feel these cars and set up these cars. I'd never driven an oval before coming over here and I'd never driven a stock car before, so it's all very, very new for me. What to tell the crew chief what to do is one of the tougher things there is for me right now.

Q: And do you have a question for the next person?

A: Well, it's difficult if I don't know who it is. But if it's (a star driver) I would ask, "In your spare time, why wouldn't you ever want to drive a very quick open-wheel car?" Because in Europe, it doesn't need to be in F1, but there are GP2-style cars you can test somewhere with a professional team.

I know they're passionate about racing, so I wonder why wouldn't they go and do a few days of testing in one of those cars, just to feel how quick it is and just to feel a car that has a ton of grip and is physically really challenging -- not like these cars over here.

You need to have money to do it. It's going to cost you $40,000 a day, but it is a blast. If I had the spare time and spare money right now to go spend two or three days driving those cars, I would go. It's good, because every time you drive something quicker and better, everything else becomes easier.

After I drove F1, every time I stepped down to do something else, everything was in slow motion and easier. It's like your brain just speeds up when you're used to something quicker, you know? So why wouldn't they want to go do that?

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NELSON PIQUET JR.'S THREE FAVORITE APPS

-- Sonos. That's what controls all the music in my house, through my iPhone or iPad.

-- Spotify. I use that a lot for my music, both at home and the track.

-- Google Calendar. I'm there all the time, booking stuff, checking if I have to be somewhere. Donald or other people are always adding stuff that I have to do. It's not my favorite, but it's what I use the most, I would say.